Bhubaneswar: Ambassadors and diplomats from eight countries Thursday voiced concern over the growing impact of climate change and global warming, calling for urgent and focused global action to protect the planet.
Spain’s ambassador Juan Antonio March Pujol, while addressing a two-day international conclave on ‘Climate Change and Global Warming—Issues and Prospects’ said: “It is not a distant threat, it stands as a huge challenge before humanity.”
Other dignitaries who addressed the conclave included Alberto Guani (Ambassador of Uruguay), Javier Paulinich (Ambassador of Peru), Fernando Bucheli (Ambassador of Ecuador), Omar Castaneda Solares (Ambassador of Guatemala), Antonio Bartoli (Ambassador of Italy), Lalatiana Accouche (High Commissioner of Seychelles), and Kayshav Tewari (Diplomat, High Commission of Guyana).
India Meteorological Department (IMD) DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra in his address said the release of greenhouse gases due to human and socio-economic activities was primarily responsible for the current crisis.
“The impact is being clearly reflected in extreme weather events,” he said.
He warned that forests and wetlands, natural carbon sinks, are shrinking due to deforestation and human interference.
“Measures are being taken to prevent deforestation and protect water bodies,” he said.
“Climate change is also impacting the economy. There has been a 6 to 10 per cent reduction in agricultural yield due to rising temperatures, and fishing activities are adversely affected,” he added.
He said the release of greenhouse gases due to human and socio-economic activities are responsible for the present situation and the impact had been reflected in extreme weather events.
Mohapatra asserted the need for installing early warning systems in regions vulnerable to extreme weather conditions while sustainable development practices should be pursued at the micro levels to combat climate change, he said.
Seychelles High Commissioner Accouche, said her country, a small island nation in Africa, was worst affected as it was faced with rising sea levels, coastal erosion and extreme weather which posed significant threat to the country’s economy, particularly tourism and fishing industries, and its natural environment.
“Though we are the least contributor to the process of global warming, we are the worst affected by its impact,” she said.
Guyana’s Tewari echoed Accouche saying those who contributed the least to climate change were its biggest victims.
Guyana, with a population of eight lakh, had been pursuing policies to protect the environment and was now known as a green superpower, he said.
The country had protected its pristine forest covering 85 per cent of the geographical area which served as a carbon sink, Tewari said, adding countries needed to be compensated for the global good they did.
Spain’s ambassador Pujol said anthropogenic activities had impacted the climate, causing the sea levels to rise by more than 20 cm since 1900 while countries were facing extreme weather events like cyclones, floods and droughts.
Spain, he said, was committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and supported the initiatives being taken by the European community to address the situation.
Antonio Bartoli, Ambassador of Italy, referred to the recent catastrophic floods in Texas.
“Nobody saw it coming. Italy too has broken records for extreme weather events. It’s paradoxical that with all our technological advancement, we still can’t control nature,” he added.
Peru’s ambassador Paulinich said 71 per cent of the glaciers in his country, which were the prime source of water, were on the decline. “The glaciers are retreating and facing extinction. It is not ice, but our future that is melting,” he said.
PTI
